Every Rose Has Its Thorn
by Duckett-1
Summary: Adelaide is a young Asgardian, a handmaiden to the Queen of Asgard, and best friend to Thor and Loki. She was a magician like Loki, and had always been close to him. Will the events of Thor bring them closer, or tear them apart? Loki/OC (I'm sorry for this horrible summary, but please give it a chance!)
1. Chapter 1

**I own none of these characters except Adelaide. I know it's not a really original idea, but I hope you guys enjoy!**

Thor drained a rather large goblet of wine, throwing it violently toward the flames of the fireplace once emptied. The remnants of alcohol caused the flames to grow brighter, showing the details of Thor's face in the flickering light and shadows as he yelled, "Another!"

Adelaide took the tray of goblets from an attendant that had been frightened by Thor's display as Thor moved around the room. Adelaide dismissed the second attendant, but placed the tray down before moving down the corridor where the room Thor paced in rested. She was beaten down the hall by a shadow with great horns growing atop of his head. "Nervous, brother?" The figure asked quietly: Loki, already dressed in his garb for Thor's coronation.

"Have you ever known me to be nervous?" Thor replied just as quietly, though his thunder-like voice still echoed throughout the room. Adelaide walked quicker down the hall, though not quickly enough to grab the attention of her two greatest friends, Thor and Loki. Adelaide was one of Frigga's handmaidens, her most trusted, and was training to become the Queen's personal guard at only eighteen, in Midgardian years.

"There was that time on Nornheim..." Loki suggested thoughtfully, glancing back at Adelaide with sparkling emerald green eyes.

"That wasn't nerves, brother." Thor corrected stiffly. "It was the rage of battle. How else could I have fought my way through a hundred warriors and pulled us out alive?"

Adelaide whistled lowly, calling the tray of wine goblets toward her with glittering magic levitating the platter. She had been taught magic alongside Loki, by Frigga.

"As I recall, I was the one who veiled us in smoke to ease our escape." Loki commented, making Adelaide clear her throat to alert him of his mistake in that sentence. "We, of course, is what I meant." Loki corrected with a sheepish grin.

"Some do battles, others just do tricks." Thor said simply, shrugging ever so slightly.

Adelaide bit her lip to stifle a quiet chuckle, though she knew she was in the same category as Loki. She just hoped her humor went unnoticed.

Loki noticed her.

He frowned and made a short, nonchalant gesture toward the wine goblet, though wine was no longer held there. Eels poured over the edge of the cup.

Adelaide gasped and dropped the tray and goblet with a clatter, stepping away from the eels squirming in her path.

Loki chuckled.

She frowned and pushed him in the darkness that hid her gown for Thor's coronation; Frigga had suggested that she dress up, and Adelaide couldn't refuse her queen. She, like her elder sister Sif, would rather be on the battlefield than inside the castle walls, though Adelaide usually didn't ache for battle. Many times though, Thor and Loki had pulled her into battle despite their mother's protests.

"Loki," Thor chided. Adelaide gestured to the eels quickly, almost panicky, shifting them back into wine spilled on the floor as Thor continued. "Now that was just a waste of good wine."

"Just a bit of fun." Loki replied, and then turned to Adelaide with a charming smile. "Right, my friend?"

"Why must the God of Mischief be so rude?" She sighed exasperatedly, shaking her head.

"Part of the job, my dear." Loki said with a wink.

Adelaide pushed him playfully, the way they did as children, which made Loki grin. She knelt over the spilled wine and waved a hand over it, making it slither like the eels it had taken the form of moments before, and into the fire. The flames glowed brightly, illuminating Loki's emerald eyes with a strange light, and doing the same to Adelaide's pale, silvery blue ones.

She then left the brothers in peace, but Loki followed her out so Thor could prepare.


	2. Chapter 2

Adelaide rushed into the coronation ceremony, late. Luckily, it hadn't started yet. She smoothed the maroon skirts of her best dress and adjusted the corset accordingly. She had finished sparring with Fandral only an hour ago, rushing to her quarters afterward to prepare for Thor's coronation, and even helped Thor soothe some of the nerves he wouldn't admit he had, per Frigga's request. Adelaide pushed some of her pale blonde curls out of her face, her silvery blue eyes bright beneath the platinum band that stretched across her forehead, matching the platinum embroidery at the bottom of her silken burgundy dress.

"You look extravagant," Frigga whispered to Adelaide in a gentle tone, though the young Asgardian was still shuffling and adjusting before the ceremony truly started.

"He was waiting for you, you know," Sif informed with a slight grin, glancing toward Odin.

Adelaide rolled her eyes.

Odin wished for Thor to marry her or Sif, though she knew the All-Mother suspected both of their sons, Thor and Loki, were smitten with her. If truth be told, Adelaide would've chosen Loki over Thor. Though Thor was attractive, especially by Asgardian standards; beefy broad shoulders, bright blue eyes, and a strong jawline which was framed by blonde hair that touched his shoulders, he was far too arrogant, conceited, and stubborn for her taste. And there was something about Loki that interested her, as if he were hiding a secret even he didn't know. Not to mention Loki was sweet and kind, quiet but always regal, and she quite enjoyed his mischief.

As the ceremony started, Thor sent Sif and Adelaide both a quick grin, to which the sisters replied by rolling their eyes, Sif's a pale green, Adelaide's a silvery blue. Thor lifted Mjolnir into the air, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

"Oh please," Sif scoffed at the sight.

Adelaide rolled her eyes.

Thor stopped up front, kneeling before his mother, whom Adelaide stood beside as a guard, and his father. Odin struck his spear, Gungnir, hard on the palace floor, silencing the crowd from its frenzy.

"Gungnir. Its aim is true, its power strong. With it I have defended Asgard and the innocent lives across the Nine Realms since the time of the Great Beginning. And though it is time for a new king to wield his own weapon—the duty remains the same." Odin preached, the crowd listening closely. "Thor Odinson," the All-Father announced to the crowd.

Adelaide glanced over to her oldest friend, Loki, who stood in the corner, away from others, though closest to Frigga and herself. He glanced at her with emerald eyes and smiled slightly, noticing the dark ruby necklace Adelaide had clasped on, the one he had given her for her birthday.

"My heir," Odin continued, "my first born. So long entrusted with the mighty hammer, Mjolnir. Forged in the heart of a dying star, from the sacred metal of Uru. Only one may lift it. Who wields the hammer commands the lightning and the storm. Its power has no equal—as a weapon to destroy, or as a tool, to build. It is a fit companion for a king."

Adelaide heard something. She tilted her head toward the noise with subtle grace. Only Loki noticed. She heard a noise again, this time more clearly. A scream. Adelaide gasped, once again too subtle for anyone but the ever-observant Like to notice.

"What is it?" He whispered gently, having moved closer to her and touching her hand gently to catch her attention.

"Something's happening in the weapons vault," Adelaide replied in the same quiet tone. "I can hear it."

Loki flinched, seeming worried at the thought. The ceremony continued on.

"Today I entrust you with the greatest honor in all of the Nine Realms: the sacred throne of Asgard. I have sacrificed much to achieve peace. So, too, must a new generation sacrifice to maintain that peace. Responsibility, duty, honor. These are not virtues to which we must aspire. They are essential to every soldier and to every king." Odin preached on.

Adelaide shivered, the hall becoming increasingly cold. Loki frowned, glancing around to see most of the crowd shivering as well.

Thor turned back to Odin, who looked upon his eldest son with a proud gaze. "Thor Odinson, do you swear to guard the Nine Realms?"

"I swear," Thor replied firmly.

"Do you swear to preserve the peace?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and pledge yourself only to the good of all the Realms?"

"I swear."

"Then on this day, I, Odin All-Father, proclaim you—" He paused, noticing something strange before him. Ice crept across the banners around the hall, popping and crackling eerily around the echoing hall. Adelaide, Thor, Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three saw it, along with the rest of the crowd.

"Frost Giants," Odin whispered.

Thor stood, turning and dashing from the hall. Adelaide, in all of her skirts and the corset of her dress, followed through a side door.

Loki appeared in front of her with a flash of magic, outside the door.

"Loki!" Adelaide complained. "Get out of my way."

"What's your hurry, Adelaide, just out of curiosity?" Loki asked, frowning.

"I am doing my job; protecting my Queen." Adelaide replied shortly. "Your mother."

"Then you should stay with her," Loki countered.

"or stop the problem before it ever reaches her." Adelaide shot back, colder than she meant it, as she pushed past Loki.

She made her way quickly to the weapons vault, walking in behind Thor, who had burst through the door angrily. Loki, Sif, and the Warriors Three weren't far behind her. Thor paused and stared at the sight in front of him.

Shattered ice was scattered around the vault, melting while it laid there. Adelaide's jaw tightened at the sight of the mangled, smoldering corpses of Frost Giants. The smell of burnt flesh filled her nose, making her cough quietly. Loki looked at her worriedly, but she waved him off with a reassuring glance. The Destroyer stood in the corner, clutching the Casket, a soft fiery light glowing from the metal creature.

"The Destroyer," Sif observed.

"I thought it was but a myth," Volstagg said in awe.

Odin entered the vault, and when he did, the Destroyer placed the Casket back down on its pedestal. The Destroyer shut itself off, the glow diminishing.

"I've never been inside the vault," Fandral said, "it's said that the Tesseract was once held here."

"The Tesseract?" Volstagg said in awed voice again. "I thought that was but a legend too!"

"Just because you haven't seen such things does not make them a legend." Adelaide said simply, brushing some platinum blonde curls from her silvery blue eyes.

"Shush!" Sif ordered the Warriors Three and Adelaide, her younger sister.

Odin surveyed the damage in the vault closely, his silence eerie.

"The Jotun's must pay for what they have done!" Thor growled viciously.

"They have paid with their lives," Odin said simply. "The Destroyer did its job. The Casket is safe. All is well."

"'All is well'?" Thor snapped angrily. "They broke into the weapons vault! If the Frost Giants had stolen even one of these relics—"

"But they didn't," Odin said simply.

"But I want to know why!" Thor retorted, still angry.

"The Casket of Ancient Winters belonged to the Jotuns." Odin explained shortly. "They believe it to be their birthright."

"And if you hadn't taken it from them they would have laid waste to the Nine Realms!" Thor retaliated.

Adelaide stood partly behind Loki, her hands wrapped gently around his forearm. Loki himself looked back and forth between Thor and Odin's argument.

"I have a truce with Laufey, the Jotun king," Odin said.

"He just broke your truce! We must act!"

Odin turned to Sif and the Warriors Three. "Leave us." They all bowed, including Adelaide, who turned to leave with her sister and their friends. "Not you, Adelaide," Odin said simply, halting the handmaiden. "I wish for your counsel on this matter."

Adelaide stopped, her silvery blue eyes wide as she turned to look at Odin. "Mine, All-Father?" She asked quietly, disbelievingly.

He nodded.

Adelaide moved to stand close to Loki again, who was still watching intently.

Odin turned back to Thor. "What action would you take?"

"March into Jotunheim as you once did, teach them a lesson, break their spirits so they'll never try to cross our borders again!" Thor roared.

"Your opinion, Adelaide?" The All-Father asked, turning to the young handmaiden in a princess's clothing.

Adelaide looked at Thor, her expression giving no indication of what she would say. "These are the actions and ideals of a warrior." She said softly, glancing at Odin warily.

His lips turned up slightly at the corners. He agreed.

"This was an act of war!" Thor protested loudly, angrily.

Loki grabbed Adelaide's arm protectively, as if to stand against Thor if he attacked.

"It was an act of but a few, doomed to fail." Odin corrected simply, his voice unnaturally calm.

"Look how far they got!" Thor exclaimed.

"We will find the breech in our defenses. It will be found, and it will be sealed."

"As King of Asgard, I would—" Thor started, but was cut off by Odin's calm demeanor fading away.

"But you're not king!" Odin roared. "Not yet."

Adelaide flinched at the tone from behind Loki, who still stood before her protectively, holding her arm gently.

Thor's jaw clenched, painfully tight with his anger, but he didn't press the issue. He turned on his heel, his red cape billowing behind him at his quick movements. He shoved the doors open and marched out, making Loki squeeze Adelaide's arm reassuringly before she pulled out of his grip.

"I should go tend to Frigga," Adelaide said quietly, slipping gently from Loki's grasp and out of the swinging doors.

Loki watched her go, his emerald green eyes soft and almost sorrowful as she left him.


	3. Chapter 3

Adelaide slipped into the banquet hall in time to watch Thor upheave one of the massive tables. She had changed out of her coronation clothing, and was wearing her simple handmaiden's outfit once again. A simple, floor-length beige dress with short sleeves, beige flat shoes that matched the shade of the dress, and a gold chained necklace with a small blue gem nestled comfortably just just below her collarbone, another gift from Loki. Her silvery blonde curls were tucked into a thick knot on the back of her head, a few perfect curls framing her face in places as well.

She closed the door behind her quietly, then turned to see Loki in front of her.

"This isn't a good time for you to be here, Adelaide." Loki informed her quietly.

"I know," she replied. "I needed to see if he was alright. I didn't mean to make him angry with me. Odin asked for my opinion, and I couldn't refuse the All-Father."

"I know," Loki said, placing a hand on her shoulder gently. "But Thor is too upset to be so understanding."

Adelaide nodded slightly.

Loki walked over to Thor and sat beside the God of Thunder.

"It is unwise to be in my company right now, brother." Thor stated coldly, though it wasn't directed at Loki himself.

"Who said I was wise?" Loki asked, his voice holding a hint of humor.

Adelaide smiled slightly at Loki's tone.

Thor looked at the empty hall, the floor of which now covered in scattered food from the overturned table that seemingly angered him. "This was to be my day of triumph."

"It will come. In time." Loki said comfortingly. He then sighed and admitted, "If it's any consolation, I think you're right. About the Frost Giants, about Laufey, about everything."

Adelaide stepped out of the corner and nodded, unable to hold her tongue any longer. "If a few of them can penetrate our defenses once," she started, her few fallen curls framing her pale blue eyes and angelic face. "What will stop them from doing it again, this time with an army?"

Loki looked at Adelaide, examining her face. She looked like a Valkyrie, and acted like one too. She was beautiful, kind, and brave. She was possibly braver than Sif, but didn't ache for battle like her sister did.

Even Thor smiled at her, glad to see she was on his side.

"Yes, exactly!" He exclaimed, looking at Adelaide with bright blue eyes.

"But there's nothing you can do without defying Father," Loki said to Thor, who glanced at his hammer considerately, a bright gleam in his blue eyes.

"No! Stop there, I know that look!" Loki said, guessing what he was thinking, standing up and looking concerned.

"It's the only way to ensure the safety of out borders." Thor stated, holding Mjolnir casually.

"But Thor, it's madness!" Loki protested.

Adelaide nodded. "I agree, but maybe madness is what we need."

Thor grinned.

"Madness?" Volstagg asked from the doorway. "What sort of madness?"

"Nothing!" Loki said quickly, nervously. "Thor and Adelaide were making a jest!"

"The safety of our Realm is no jest." Thor said with a frown. "We're going to Jotunheim."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi my followers! I'm so sorry about how long it's been since I updated! I lost the wifi at my house and had a seriously busy year last year! I'll do my best to catch up on as many of my stories as I can. But for now, I'm** **starting simple. **

**I do not own any of these characters except Adelaide. Hope you enjoy! **

"What?!" Fandral said, alarmed.

"Thor, of all the laws on Asgard, this is one you must not break." Sif said firmly.

Loki watched intently, clearly intrigued.

"This isn't like a journey to Earth, where you summon some lightning and thunder and the mortals worship you as a god." Fandral said, his voice as firm as Sif's. "This is Jotunheim."

"And if the Frost Giants don't kill you, your Father will!" Volstagg added.

"My father fought his way into Jotunheim, defeated their armies, and took their Casket!" Thor countered toward his friends.

"We'd only be looking for answers." Adelaide pointed out simply.

Sif glared at her, sending the message clearly. Adelaide wasn't helping anything.

"It is forbidden!" Sif snapped at Thor, and her sister.

Thor looked across his friends, and his brother, smiling.

"My friends," Thor said, his voice filled with charisma and enthusiasm. "Have you forgotten all we have done together?" He turned toward Fandral. "Who brought you into the sweet embrace of the most exotic maidens in all of Yggdrasil?"

Fandral looked at Thor. "You did."

Thor turned to Hogun. "Who led you into the most glorious of battles..." He turned toward Volstagg. "And to delicacies so succulent, you'd thought you'd died and gone to Valhalla?"

"You did," Hogun said, followed by Volstagg's sheepish version of the same statement.

Thor turned toward Adelaide and her elder sister, Sif. "And who proved wrong all who scoffed at the idea that two young maidens could be two of the fiercest warriors this Realm has ever known?"

"We did," Adelaide said with a frown, crossing her arms.

Sif nodded in agreement with her sister.

Thor corrected himself quickly as Adelaide caught Loki's chuckle. "True, but I supported you two."

He turned to all of his friends at once. "My friends, trust me now. We must do this."

Sif and the Warriors Three exchanged wary looks, but Adelaide walked over and clapped a hand on Thor's arm. "I'm with you." She said with a firm nod. "It's time for me to prove myself. What better way to do it?"

Thor grinned at her, turning toward his other friends again. "Come on, you're not going to let my brother, Adelaide—who is the youngest of us—and me take all the glory, are you?"

Loki looked startled. "What?!"

"You're coming with us..." Thor stated.

"Yes, of course!" Loki replied. "I won't let my brother and my friend march into Jotunheim alone. I will be at their side." The lie bit and stung at his throat, a pain he rarely felt about a lie. It wasn't the statement, but the words in it. Calling Adelaide only a friend made his chest ache and throat burn.

"And I." Volstagg added with a smile.

"And I." Fandral then said.

"And I. The Warriors Three fight together." Hogun said, his quieted voice firm.

Sif sighed, glancing at her sister before speaking. "I fear we will live to regret this."

Volstagg grinned. "If we're lucky."

It was decided. Adelaide slipped off to meet them later, passing attendants who thought nothing of her separating as if she was going to tend to the All-Mother. She moved into her quarters and changed into her armor; a thick black leather breastplate that covered her chest, gauntlets of the same material that held the sheaths of two daggers, one on each forearm, and boots that hid a dagger in each, and black pants that allowed free movement. Beneath the breastplate was a black, thick, and snug long-sleeved shirt that would help her bear the winter's bite in Jotunheim. She strapped a quiver on her back, and pulled a bow over her body, the bowstring nestled comfortably across her chest.

Adelaide then left to meet the others, finding them within a few minutes of them all leaving for the Bifrost. She saw them just as Loki slipped off to speak to a guard, though Hogun was the only other that noticed.

"First we must find a way to get past Heimdall." Thor stated once Adelaide caught up, smiling at her. He quite liked the look of warrior on her, better than the look of handmaiden; she wasn't made for that. She was kind and gentle, but fierce, tough, and stubborn. She was the perfect warrior and caretaker. Perfect for a Queen.

"That will be no easy task," Volstagg said, removing Thor from his thoughts. "It's said that the Gatekeeper can see a single dew drop fall from a blade of grass a thousand worlds away."

"And he can hear a cricket passing gas in Niffelheim." Fandral joked with a grin.

"Jest not!" Volstagg snapped. "He heareth all!"

"Please," Fandral scoffed. "Getting past him should be simple enough now, since he seems to be letting Frost Giants sneak by under his nose."

Adelaide rolled her eyes at Fandral, he had always been arrogant, enough to rival even Thor.

Volstagg looked up at the sky, his expression terrified. "Forgive him!" He called up. "He meaneth no offense!"

Adelaide rolled her eyes again as Loki rejoined the group. He flashed Adelaide a smile, which she returned, pulling down her wild ringlets of hair and pulling them back, away from her eyes as they went on. Her curls were out of her face, but otherwise down and flowing beside her shoulder blades.

The gods arrived on horseback at the massive Gate, Asgard being framed by the setting suns in the background. The sky bounced with oranges, pinks and reds, framing Asgard with beautiful colors.

Adelaide looked back at palace, which was framed in the same colors. She then glanced down at the Rainbow Bridge that the group moved across. It was wide and flat, running straight from Odin's palace to the black void of space far beyond. Further down the bridge rested Heimdall's Observatory.

As the band neared closer to the Observatory, Adelaide caught a glimpse of Heimdall himself. Even for this Realm, he seemed other-worldly. He blocked their path, staring down the traveling band of Asgardians with eyes the shade of twenty-four karat gold. A massive sword rested in his grasp, the statue-like features of his face intimidating, though they were mostly concealed by his bulky armor. Something, his eyes possibly, gleamed like stars behind his visor.

"Keep your weapons sheathed and your mouths closed." Loki warned, dismounting his horse. "This is going to take subtlety and sincerity, not brute strength. Adelaide, come with me. The lady of truth might make this lie even more believable."

Adelaide rolled her eyes, but dismounted her speckled white horse, following Loki.

"Good Heimdall—" Loki started, but was cut off by Heimdall's baritone voice.

"You're not dressed warmly enough." His golden gaze rested on Loki. "She is, for a brief time," he nodded toward Adelaide, "but you're not."

Loki traded looks with Thor and the others. "I'm sorry?"

"The freezing cold of Jotunheim will kill you all in time, even Thor." Heimdall stated simply. He continued on. "You think you can deceive me? I, who watch all? I, who can sense the flapping of a butterfly's wings a thousand worlds away?" He then turned his gaze pointedly on Fandral. "Or can hear a cricket passing gas in Niffelheim?"

Fandral, for once, had no reply. He only gaped at Heimdall.

Adelaide had to fight herself so she didn't chuckle.

"That was just a bit of a jest, really..." Fandral started nervously.

Loki shifted into damage control. "You must be mistaken. We're not—"

"Enough," Thor said, cutting off his younger brother. He turned toward Heimdall. "Heimdall, may we pass?"

Heimdall stared at Thor. "For ages have I guarded Asgard and kept it safe from those who would do it harm. In all that time, never has an enemy slipped my watch—until this day. I wish to know how that happened."

"Then tell no one where we've gone until we've returned." Thor bartered, though his tone made it sound non-negotiable.

Thor walked past Heimdall, who let the group pass.

Volstagg grinned as he trotted past a frustrated Loki. "What happened?" He asked with an impish grin. "Silver tongue turned to lead?"

"Get me off this bridge before it cracks under your girth." Loki grumbled, moving quickly to catch up with Thor as Adelaide shared a laugh with Volstagg and Fandral.

The group entered the Observatory, standing on the platform. Heimdall stood in the center of the room nod readied the Observatory.

"Be warned," Heimdall announced. "I will honor my sworn oath to protect this Realm as its Gatekeeper. If your return threatens the safety of Asgard, the Bifrost will remain closed to you. You'll be left to die in the cold wastes of Jotunheim."

"Let's make sure we refrain from endangering Asgard, then," Adelaide muttered, crossing her arms. She adjusted the daggers on her forearms into a more subtle, comfortable position.

Thor laughed. "I have no plans to die today."

"None do." Heimdall replied, pressing his sword into the control panel apparatus, making the Observatory start up. The Bifrost energy quickened along the Rainbow Bridge.

Heimdall twisted his sword in the control panel, and the Observatory's massive turret swung around, aiming at a section of the space around. The Rainbow Light blasted out of the Bifrost in a flurry of beautiful colors. The Bifrost opened at the end when Heimdall shoved the blade further into the panel, and said, "All is ready. You may pass."

"Couldn't you just leave the bridge open for us?" Volstagg asked, making Adelaide shake her head, her silvery blonde curls swinging.

"To leave this bridge open would unleash the full power of the Bifrost and destroy Jotunheim with you upon it." Heimdall replied blandly.

"Ah." Volstagg said with a sheepish grin. "Never mind, then."

Adelaide snorted and rolled her eyes.

Thor grinned at his friends, mainly Adelaide and Sif it seemed, as he moved toward the Bifrost. "Come on," he said, his grin still present. "Don't be bashful."

Adelaide was the first to move, followed quickly by Loki and her elder sister, and then after Sif, the Warriors Three. Adelaide unintentionally locked her grip onto the hand of the person standing next to her as their bodies stretched and elongated, feeling like every atom was being ripped from her body.

A hole was torn in the sky, and the bright ray of the Bifrost fired out of it. When Adelaide and the other Asgardians touched the ground, snow flurrying off of the ground, now marked with runes from the Bifrost.

Adelaide realized her grip was still painfully tight on someone's hand, and when she looked she saw it was Loki's. "Oh!" She exclaimed quietly, releasing his hand and hoping the darkness of Jotunheim hid her blush. "I'm sorry, Loki."

"All is well, Adelaide." Loki assured her quickly, flexing his hand to stretch it out once again. "I promise."

Adelaide could've sworn she saw a glimmer of affection in his darkened emerald gaze, but she chided herself inwardly for such thoughts. She had deeply woven feelings for Loki, but she scarcely doubted he could feel the same.

Almost as if staged to ruin the moment of Adelaide and Loki's closeness, Volstagg slipped on ice and started to tumble backward.

Thor lashed out, his grip locking on their robust friend's belt.

Adelaide gasped and took a step forward to help, ice cracking under her weight before falling out from under her.

Adelaide screamed as she fell before Loki lunged and grabbed her, cutting the young Asgardian's scream short. Loki was almost surprised at her light weight after cracking and falling through ice, though he knew she couldn't have weighed much.

"Adelaide!" Sif called, looking over the edge worriedly as Loki pulled her younger sister up.

Adelaide was trembling when Loki got her back to her feet, and Loki pulled her toward him, rubbing her back tenderly to stop her trembling.

"You're alright, Adelaide." Loki whispered as she buried her face into his shoulder, still shaking.

"Thank you. You saved my sister." Sif breathed toward Loki, who nodded in reply before Sif turned back toward Thor and the Warriors Three, repeatedly glancing back at Adelaide to make sure she was alright.

With extreme effort, Thor tugged Volstagg back to his feet with the grunt of, "Come on, big fella. Up!"

"This belt!" Volstagg exclaimed, his voice breathless with relief. "This belt is now my lucky belt! I will never remove it! Even when bathing!"

Adelaide looked up at that and let out a quiet laugh only Loki could hear. She looked up at him, her silvery blue eyes darkened to a blue so dark they were nearly black in the faint light of Jotunheim. "Thank you, Loki." She breathed, kissing his cheek quickly before moving toward the Warriors Three as Fandral asked, "You bathe?"

Loki stood in shock for a moment, still as a statue, thinking he imagined what Adelaide had done. She kissed him. It was only on his cheek, but it was still a kiss from Adelaide. He had loved her since he was the Midgardian equivalent of eight, about 131 as an Asgardian.

"We shouldn't be here." Hogun stated quietly.

"Too late now." Thor replied, too simply for the situation.

"Actually it's not," Fandral corrected, turning to Thor. "We could turn right around, hop back to Asgard, share a mug by the fire. Could be nice."

Thor ignored the warrior, and headed off, toward the center of Jotunheim.

Loki glanced around anxiously. "Perhaps we should wait." The Mischief-Maker suggested.

Thor turned toward his younger brother, who Adelaide was once again standing beside. "For what?"

"To survey the enemy." Loki replied. "To gauge their strengths and weaknesses from a distance."

Adelaide started to take another step toward Loki, but froze when the ice cracked beneath her feet again.

Loki glanced at her, worry gleaming frantically in his darkened eyes.

"I'm liking that." Volstagg agreed with Loki. "Gauging, surveying. Particularly the distance part."

"We all know what we must." Thor stated, his voice becoming increasingly impatient. "It's time to act." He then walked on, leaving the others following him with slow reluctance.

Once again, Adelaide tried to follow, but thin ice popped and crackled beneath her feet. She stepped back onto thicker ice, her eyes wide with fright. Loki and Sif turned to look at her. They knew she was—literally—on thin ice once again. Adelaide took a few more steps back, taking a deep breath, which puffed and showed in the frozen wasteland.

"Be careful, Adelaide." Sif warned, her pale green eyes watching her sister closely, prepared for something to go wrong.

Adelaide dashed forward, leaping over the thin ice and landing gracefully beside Loki and her elder sister. "Alright," Adelaide breathed with a slight smile. "Let's go."

Sif looked in the direction of Thor and the Warriors Three and scoffed, "He's just got to swing his hammer."

"Indeed." Adelaide said, rolling her eyes before she, Loki and Sif went to catch up with the others.


	5. Chapter 5

The group trudged behind Thor, who looked all too excited to be in such a place as Jotunheim. Loki glanced around anxiously, as if too nervous to continue. Volstagg shivered, as did Adelaide. The little warmth her thick clothes had held disappeared when she fell through the ice, the moment she thought her heart had stopped.

Thor turned toward his group of comrades, his face alight with invigoration. "It feels good, doesn't it?" Thor asked with a smile. "To be together again, adventuring on another world?"

"Adventuring?" Fandral asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that what we're doing?"

"What would you call it?" Thor asked, raising a blonde brow of his own.

"Freezing." Fandral replied.

"Starving." Volstagg answered.

"Whining." Sif and Adelaide countered at the same time, toward the two warriors.

"How about a song to lift our spirits?" Thor suggested, smiling again.

"No, not that!" Hogun complained.

Adelaide groaned and Loki laughed at her reaction.

"Why the groan?" He asked, smiling at her. "You sing beautifully, like a Valkyrie."

Adelaide blushed in the darkness. "Can all Valkyries sing? Never mind. But Volstagg does not sing as well." Adelaide whispered with a smile, averting the conversation.

After walking further and the group singing as they did, Sif said, "Please don't make us sing again."

"If I have to listen to Volstagg's singing voice one more time, I'll fall on my own sword!" Fandral complained.

"Well, now I'm on board." Sif commented with a grin she shared with Thor.

Adelaide chatted quietly with Loki as they walked.

"I can hardly believe I agreed to this." Adelaide said with a sigh. "Provoked it, in fact."

"I know why, Adelaide." Loki replied, looking at her with a gentle gaze on her. "Thor is your friend. You wanted to regain his trust. You usually do not agree to things this drastic."

She smiled at him. "I am glad you understand my feelings. You always have."

Loki smiled shyly and looked at the icy ground. "I must ask, Adelaide, please forgive me in advance. Do you..." He took a deep, almost shaky breath. "Have feelings for Thor?"

Adelaide blinked at the question, shocked. Had she not just kissed his cheek? Did she show feelings for Thor she had not meant? "Well," she started nervously. "That depends on the feelings you're speaking of."

"You know the feelings I speak of, Adelaide." Loki replied quietly.

"You're asking if I love him." She stated to clarify before answering. "I love him, but as I would love an elder brother. Nothing more."

The Mischief-Maker nodded. "I see."

"May I ask why you have asked me this?" Adelaide asked him, raising a pale blonde eyebrow.

Before Loki could answer, the Asgardians arrived at the edge of the city on Jotunheim. Ancient structures of melting, jagged ice and jade lined the area, broken from wars of long past. A temple of ice stared at them from across the plaza, giving an eerie impression of cruelness.

"Where are they?" Sif asked as she looked around.

"Hiding," Thor spat hatefully. "As cowards always do."

Thor moved forward, leading the party of Asgardians through the central plaza.

Loki seemed the most reluctant to follow.

Shadowed figures loomed in behind the group, near the tattered structures around the plaza.

"Sif," Adelaide warned in a whisper. "We are being watched."

Sif looked at her sister and nodded a little. "I know."

At that point, the frost giants were everywhere. The others sensed it too. Adelaide pulled her bow off her shoulders and held it tight in her hand as the other Asgardians grabbed the hilts of their weapons.

A Jotunn sentry walked toward the Asgardians. "What is your business here, Asgardian?" He asked Thor, his voice resembling cracking ice, especially jagged around the title of Asgardian.

"I speak only to your King," Thor growled. "Not to his foot shoulders."

A separate Jotunn voice spoke from behind the sentry. "Then speak."

Thor looked back toward a balcony on the temple, where a throne sat that held the shadowed figure of Laufey himself in front of a frozen waterfall. Laufey looked ancient and noble, and far too proud to show even a sliver of the suffering of his people in his expression.

"I am Laufey," the Jotunn said. "King of this Realm."

"And I am—" Thor started, but was cut off by the Jotunn king.

"We know who you are, Odinson. Why have you brought the stench of your blood into my world?"

"I demand answers." Thor growled again.

Laufey stood, sizing up Thor with a small smirk it seemed only Adelaide noticed as he tried to piece this together. "You 'demand'?"

"How did your people get into Asgard?" Thor demanded.

"The house of Odin is full of traitors." Laufey said, much too calmly.

Adelaide took a step back in shock, looking at Sif and the Warriors Three, who all traded the same looks with her. They were all disturbed by Laufey's words.

"Do not dishonor my father's name with your lies." Thor snarled.

"Your father is a murderer and a thief." Laufey snarled in reply. "He stole what was ours, and left our world in ruins. We have the right to reclaim our Casket."

"Not when you'd use it to make war against other Realms." Thor countered.

Laufey laughed coldly. "And why have you come here? To make peace? You long for battle. You crave it. I see you for what you are, Thor Odinson. Nothing but a boy, trying to prove himself a man."

"This boy his grown tired of your mockery." Thor growled angrily. The God of Thunder took a step toward Laufey, and other Frost Giants blocked his path. The Frost Giants revealed themselves in their full, terrifying glory. They were massive, at least eight feet tall with blue skin, some of which having patterns traced across them like carved scars, and crimson eyes.

Loki moved toward Thor, whispering to his elder brother. "Thor, stop and think. Look around you. We are outnumbered."

"Know your place, brother." Thor snarled lowly to Loki, who took a step back toward Adelaide, who stood as the link between the royal brothers and Sif and the Warriors Three.

"You should listen to his counsel." Laufey warned, stepping out of the shadows. "You know not what your actions would unleash." When the Jotunn king was fully out of the shadows, he continued. "But I do. Go now, while I still allow it."

Thor steamed, but Loki stepped forward and spoke up. "We will accept your most gracious offer."

Adelaide looked from Loki to Thor, an imploring expression that matched that of Sif and the Warriors Three.

Thor stared at Laufey hatefully before reluctantly turning and walking away with his fellow Asgardians.

The venture out was simple and calm, until a Frost Giant behind the Asgardians muttered, "Run back home, little princess."

Thor froze.

Loki went pale. He knew what was coming when he muttered, "Damn."

In a skillfully quick motion, Thor pulled Mjolnir, swung it, and knocked the Frost Giant across the plaza.


	6. Chapter 6

Adelaide's silvery blue eyes got wide, but like the others, she circled Thor as she nocked an arrow in her bowstring.

Volstagg watched the angry Jotunns move toward the small party of Asgardians. "Silly hammer!" The rotund warrior chided. "Has a mind of its own!"

Ice molded on the bodies of the surrounding Frost Giants, forming armor on their chests. Ice then grew off of their arms, shaping themselves into swords.

"I'm hoping that's just decorative." Fandral commented as Thor moved away from the circle to attack more Jotunns.

Adelaide glanced at Loki, who glanced back and held two knives tight in his grip.

Thor whirled and threw his hammer, catching it when it came back. He grinned arrogantly. Thor was enjoying this battle already. "Next!"

A Jotunn lunged at Adelaide.

She ducked his icy blade and spun to rest on one knee, firing a razor sharp arrow through the Jotunn's chin at a steep angle, severing its spine where it met the skull. Adelaide stood up again, scarcely dodging the sharp center point of an ice blade. She gritted her teeth as the blade scraped her side, just enough to draw blood and look ugly before she slammed her elbow into the ribcage of another massive Frost Giant.

The Giant stumbled back before roaring in anger.

Adelaide cursed and dodged a few more strikes from the Jotunn before she got the opportunity to shoot him with an arrow. As more Giants approached her, Adelaide shot them before they could reach her. As she reached back for an arrow, her quiver was nearly empty. Adelaide cursed again. She fought them hand-to-hand, using her bow to bludgeon instead of shoot projectiles to save the few she had left.

Sif expertly took down Jotunns with her double-bladed staff, stabbing it through the chest. Once she had done that, another Frost Giant shoved her down. "If you don't treat me like a lady, I won't act like a lady!" Sif snarled.

Adelaide lunged and pulled an arrow out of a dead Jotunn, firing it quickly and accurately toward her sister's attacker. It sank through the Frost Giant's back and showed the other half through the front as he hit his knees before slumping over.

"I had everything under control." Sif informed her younger sister.

"Is that why you were nearly shoved off a cliff?" Adelaide asked as she fought two more Frost Giants.

Loki backed toward the edge of a cliff, cornered by a Jotunn. Loki glanced back, the ice cracking on the ledge. The Frost Giant, noticing Loki's vulnerability, swiped at the Asgardian.

The Jotunn's hand went straight through him. The Frost Giant looked confused at the spot before the real Loki walked up behind the Giant and shoved him off the edge.

"Pathetic," the real Loki muttered before moving away from the ledge and making the illusion disappear. Loki turned back to the battle behind him, and hurled two knives at two oncoming Jotunns. They both fell at the same time.

Laufey nodded toward one of his guards, a massive Frost Giant brute. The brute iced himself up with armor, and then slammed his fist into the ground, causing jagged pieces of ice to explode into pillars as the two groups fought.

Thor took down two more Frost Giants easily. "Come on! At least make it a challenge for me!"

The Jotunn brute stepped forward and knocked Thor back across the ice.

Thor grinned. "Now that's more like it." Thor hurled Mjolnir as hard as he could, knocking the Jotunn brute backward and seemingly unconscious. "Ugly and stupid."

Sif took out a few more Frost Giants before she was knocked to the ground by him as he raised a weapon over her.

Hogun pulled a hidden knife out of his sleeve and hurled it at the Jotunn over Sif. It sank into the Frost Giant's chest, and the Jotunn keeled over dead.

"I'm so glad I taught him how to do that!" Sif breathed in relief.

Across the ice, Volstagg grappled with another Frost Giant, hitting him a few good times. "You may want to put some ice on that!" Volstagg grabbed the Jotunn in a headlock before another snuck up behind him. Volstagg successfully fended off the second, but had to release the first. "You may be taller, but I'm wider!" He snapped before launching his robust stomach at the Jotunn and sent him sprawling backward. The other Jotunn lunged at the large warrior, sending him to the ground with a tight squeeze. "It's not too late for you to surrender!" Volstagg informed, recovering and fighting on.

The Jotunn locked his grip onto Volstagg's bare arm. Volstagg's skin froze in the Jotunn's grip, turning the Asgardian's flesh black and necrotized.

Volstagg cried out in pain before he slammed his head into the Jotunn's ice helmet, shattering it and dropping the Frost Giant. Volstagg stopped to catch his breath, sitting on a Jotunn body to do so. He pulled out a flask, catching a glimpse of his blackened skin. "Do not let them touch you!" He called out.

Adelaide was out of arrows, and every moment she cursed herself for agreeing to this. Two Frost Giants lunged at her, one of which grabbing her left, luckily sleeved, arm and twisting, making her drop her bow. She leapt, flipping in midair to untwist her arm. She landed with her legs wrapped around the Frost Giant's throat, hurling him over her head and rolling off of him with a tuck and roll out of the way. The other Jotunn snarled and ran at her. Adelaide rolled out of the charging creature's way. The Frost Giant whirled back on her and locked his hand around her throat.

Adelaide let out a blood-curdling scream as the flesh on her neck froze and necrotized to blackness. She locked her hands around his wrist and white light flashed from her palms, though it was unintentional—she didn't know how to do that on purpose. The Jotunn roared at the flash of light, and Adelaide took the distraction as an opportunity to free herself. She locked one of her feet behind the Jotunn's head, and pressed the other into his face. She pushed his face with one leg, and jerked her other toward her, snapping her opponent's neck with an echoing crack throughout the icy plaza.

Adelaide was dropped.

She crumpled to the ground in a heap, barely able to move.

"Adelaide!" Loki cried, starting to run toward the young female Asgardian limp on the ground. He hurled two daggers at oncoming Frost Giants, dropping them quickly as he knelt beside Adelaide. "Adelaide, come on, Adelaide." Loki breathed, cupping her face in his hand, his breath catching in his throat when he saw the necrotized flesh on her neck.

Adelaide groaned weakly before opening her eyes slowly. "L-Loki...?" She breathed before coughing violently, painfully.

"It's me." Loki whispered gently. "Please, do not try to stand yet. I will help you in a moment."

Adelaide nodded, but slowly sat up.

Loki felled a few more oncoming Frost Giants before he and Adelaide both heard Fandral.

"You really think your icicles are a match for Asgardian steel?" Fandral asked the Jotunn he fought.

Fandral lunged, but the Frost Giant knocked his blade away.

"Fair enough." Fandral commented.

Fandral made another move on the Jotunn, but he reached and snapped Fandral's sword in half.

"Could we stop just a moment while I get another sword?" Fandral asked as he fought with his broken one. The Jotunn lunged at Fandral, but he ducked with little time to spare and redirected the Frost Giant's own weapon to stab him with it.

The Giant staggered backward, and the swiped at a pool of water near him. The water froze in midair and formed an ice stalactite, which dropped and impaled Fandral.

Loki raced over to Fandral to help him.

Adelaide's eyes got wide and she stood shakily, pulling out her daggers to help Loki, despite his orders to stay put.

Loki continued to hurl knives at Frost Giants. One ran at Loki while he was distracted by others. Adelaide leaped and stabbed her dagger into the throat of the Jotunn before he saw her.

The Jotunn roared in pain before falling as she jerked her dagger out of his throat.

Loki whirled to see what was happening behind him. "Adelaide!" He chided with a frown. "I told you to stay put."

Adelaide frowned herself. "Yes, stay sitting in the plaza where I can't defend myself." Her voice was hoarse, but she made herself sound stronger than she felt. She jumped and whirled on one foot, kicking a Jotunn in the face before throwing up her dagger and kicking it into the Frost Giant's chest.

Volstagg, who had started to run over and help Fandral, Loki, and even the impaled Fandral looked impressed.

Adelaide pulled her dagger out of the Jotunn and lunged to fight off more, hoping her stamina would last her while her breathing was shallow and painful.

"I may need a bit of help." The impaled Fandral informed Volstagg. "Not a good look, is it?"

"Just try not to bleed." Volstagg ordered.

"How's the face?" Fandral asked.

"Horribly wretched," Adelaide snapped, gashing a Frost Giant across the chest before slinging her second dagger up through his chin. "Per usual."

"That is rude, darling." Fandral said with a frown before turning back to Volstagg.

"Flawless," Volstagg said with an eye-roll.

"Don't call me 'darling'." Adelaide snapped as she fought.

Volstagg pulled Fandral off of the ice stalactite to get him somewhere safer.

Loki plunged two daggers into the chest of one Jotunn. The Jotunn, now mortally wounded, grabbed hold of Loki's gloves around his wrists. Loki jerked his hands free of the gloves, revealing his pale skin to the Frost Giant. The wounded Jotunn locked his grip onto Loki's bare arm.

"Loki!" Adelaide cried hoarsely, rushing toward him, but was grabbed by another Frost Giant. Her left hand started to turn black, moving halfway up her fingers, and around to her palm before traveling up her arm. Adelaide snapped, attempting to create fire, but instead that unintentional white light flashed in front of the giant's face, making him roar and stumble backward. Adelaide jumped up and took her blade across his throat before running toward Loki again.

Loki watched his arm, prepared for the worst pain of necrotizing, black flesh, but instead his arm turns blue, like that of the Frost Giants. The blue spread painlessly up Loki's arm.

Loki looked at it, confused.

The Frost Giant looked as confused as Loki, but Loki took that opportunity to kick the Giant away.

Adelaide stabbed the Frost Giant in the back from behind.

The Jotunn fell back, his icy blade cutting down across Adelaide's right upper arm at a steep angle, across her tricep and bicep.

Adelaide groaned, clutching her arm in her blackened hand. Hot blood ran between her fingers as she gritted her teeth. The blood was still sticky on her side.

"Adelaide," Loki breathed at the sight of her bloody arm and necrotized hand and neck. "You're hurt badly."

Adelaide shook her head. "I'm fine." She glanced back at Fandral. "I will see what I can do to help him here."

Loki nodded, his gaze grateful about her getting away from the fight.

Adelaide knelt beside Fandral to help nurse his wounds.

"Ah, so I see I do hold a place in your heart, darling." Fandral said as Adelaide knelt beside him, cleaning her hands of her own blood in the snow around.

"Shut up, Fandral." Adelaide said, moving to pack snow onto his wound to slow the bleeding.

"Adelaide," Fandral said from his position leaned against the ice, his voice strangely gentle toward her. "You're hurt as well."

Adelaide looked up at him, her gaze as gentle as his tone. "Don't worry about me." She said, her voice still hoarse but just as gentle as her silvery blue gaze.

Fandral leaned forward stiffly and painfully and kissed her forehead, a gesture of brotherly care. "Thank you, Adelaide."

She smiled at him before going back to work on his injury.

"Come on!" Thor taunted toward the Jotunns. He hurled Mjolnir and the Frost Giants took their opportunity to attack Thor while he was weaponless.

Laufey touched an ice wall, and a massive wave of energy moved across the ground.

Adelaide froze when the ice cracked beneath the Asgardians. She'd already fallen through once that day, she truly didn't want to fall through again.

"That can't be good." Loki stated, looking down at the ice.

"Yes it can," Volstagg said with panicky hope. "Maybe it's an early spring."

"Not." Adelaide informed, her hoarse voice shaking defiantly as she looked up from her care of Fandral. "Not an early spring."

"How do you know that?" Volstagg asked, but the worry in Adelaide's voice made his own falter.

She glanced down, and Loki and Volstagg averted their gazes to beneath them. Dread filled each of them when they looked at the ice and saw the shadowy figures of dozens of Frost Giants beneath them. They were going to join the battle.

Loki glanced frantically at Adelaide before turning toward Thor, who battled in the center of the Frost Giants.

"Thor!" Loki called toward his brother. "We must go!"

Thor, still without his hammer, fought the Jotunns without mercy.

Adelaide was stricken by the bloodlust on Thor's face. He was lost in the savage thrill of the battle, enjoying the destruction he caused without foreseeing the fate of comrades if he continued on.

"Then go!" Thor replied with a near snarl in his tone.

"There are too many of them!" Sif called, standing near her sister and Fandral protectively.

"I can stop them!" Thor called to Sif, fighting on as the other Asgardians hesitated.

"Thor!" Sif snapped toward him again, but the God of Thunder ignored his comrades.

Adelaide's breathing was heavy, and most likely it wasn't from fear; her arm was throbbing, and with every pulse of her heart it pushed out more blood.

Volstagg came over quickly and threw Fandral over his shoulder, hoping that would make the escape of the Asgardians even the slightest bit easier. Volstagg shot Adelaide a wary look, but she waved him off quickly. She didn't need to be worried over, Fandral was in worse shape than she was.

"Run!" Volstagg called after that moment of examining Adelaide's injuries.

With steep reluctance, Adelaide followed the others Asgardians.

Adelaide's arm throbbed with her quick movements, blood pulsing dangerously out of her right arm and the necrotized flesh of her neck and wrists burning with pain. She could hardly keep up.

Loki slowed to help her, his emerald eyes shimmering with worry in the darkness of Jotunheim. He looped her left arm over his shoulder and helped her along as fast as they could manage together.

Thor battled with everything he could, with all of his might, but he was surrounded on all sides by Frost Giants. It only took moments for him to disappear in a deadly sea of blue flesh.

Adelaide watched in horror as Loki tried to help her away, but Loki seemed as worried as she was.

After a few more moments, Thor's fist forced upward, opening and beckoning for Mjolnir to come to him. The roaring sound of Mjolnir's flight grew louder to the mound of Jotunn's, and one turned around before the hammer slammed the giant square in the face. Thor raised his hammer again, slamming it into the ground. Thunder cracked above before a bright bolt of lightning collided with the ice, and all of the Frost Giants surrounding him convulsed and dropped dead.

It would've worked quite well, if the blast hadn't cracked the ice beneath the feet of the Asgardians.

"What's Thor done?!" Volstagg asked, his voice little more ban a gasp of fear.

"Likely killed us all!" Loki said coldly, tugging Adelaide behind him as gently as he could.

As they moved, the Frost Giants exhaled deeply, pushing an icy fog toward the Asgardians.

Adelaide looked around frantically, unable to see the rest of her comrades. "Loki?" She asked, her grip having slipped from his just before the fog concealed them heavily.

Thor noticed he had put his friends in even more danger, and he raised Mjolnir, summoning heavy winds to carry him into the icy fog where his friends were trapped.

"Adelaide?" Loki called, worry clouding the senses he could use to find her. His emerald green eyes flicked around the fog, hoping to at least see her familiar, thin silhouette.

"Loki?" She called through the fog, alerting him to her direction.

His eyes widened hopefully and he dashed that direction, not stopping until his arms wrapped around her in impulsive joy of finding her.

She wrapped her arms around him in the same instinctive manner, but when his silver gauntlet touched her bloody side she cringed into his chest.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, loosening his grip on her gently.

"It's far from your fault, Loki." Adelaide breathed against his chest before sliding away slowly when she heard Thor land near them.

"Loki, Adelaide," Thor rumbled. "We need to see."

Adelaide raised her frostbitten left hand, her right arm still burning from the gash, and closed her eyes in concentration. She and Loki split the fog until it disappeared, and she opened her eyes to see hundreds of Jotunns—far too many for even Thor.

"Actually," Volstagg commented toward Loki and Adelaide. "Could you bring the mists back, please?"

Adelaide couldn't help but spare Thor a glance as he realized he and his friends were as good as dead, and he looked grief-stricken and—almost—scared.

As the giants snaked toward them, Adelaide took a step toward Loki, and he did the same. They stood with their backs pressed against one another's, refusing to go down without a fight. They paused and looked up as a deafening roar erupted from the sky as a massive hole ripped through the dark, cold sky. The Bifrost blasted to life in the frozen wasteland, the sound of thundering hooves clomped over the ice, and to Adelaide's surprise, and everyone else's, Odin All-Father sat atop his eight-legged stallion Sleipnir. The king was clad in battle armor, holding his golden spear Gungnir—a frightening and imposing sight to any warrior.

Odin cantered forward on Sleipnir, the Frost Giants parting their rank in fear. Laufey slammed his fists into the ice, raising him toward the All-Father. They spoke quietly, in tones only they could hear.

"Laufey, end this." Odin said with a frown.

"Your boy sought this out." Laufey growled lowly, menacingly.

Asgardians and Jotunns alike watched in terror of what could happen next. Adelaide had moved to cling tight to Loki, who gladly let her as comfort for them both.

"You're right. And these are the actions of the boy, treat them as such. You and I can stop this before there is further bloodshed." Odin replied calmly as Laufey started to form an ice blade in hand, unknowing to him.

"We're beyond diplomacy now, All-Father." Laufey snarled. "He'll get what he came for—war and death."

Adelaide spotted the ice blade as Odin replied, "So be it."

She nudged Loki harshly and motioned to the ice blade frantically.

"Father! Look out!" Loki called in warning as Laufey swung the frozen weapon. Luckily, Odin was quick. He brought up his spear and Gungnir met the ice, sending Laufey and other Frost Giants sprawling in a wave of blue bodies. The rest of the Jotunns turned and ran in surrender.

Thor watched with a delighted expression. "Now, Father! We'll finish them together!"

"Silence!" Odin hissed before raising his spear. A hole tore through the sky and the Asgardians were enveloped in color and pulled off the ground. The vortex closed behind them, leaving Laufey staring up at the sky in contempt.


	7. Chapter 7

Heimdall stood in the observatory, waiting for their return. Adelaide stumbled into Volstagg's back when she landed, halting herself before she hit the critically wounded Fandral.

Loki reached out to steady her gently, her blood still resting on his gauntlet. She had lost far too much already.

"Why did you bring us back?" Thor demanded angrily, thundering toward his father.

"Do you realize what you've done?" Odin asked furiously. "What you've started?"

"I was protecting my home!" Thor retorted with the same anger as his father.

"You cannot protect your friends." Odin snarled. "How can you hope to protect a kingdom?"

The All-Father turned to the other Asgardians. "Get him to the healing room!" He barked at Volstagg and Hogun about Fandral.

Adelaide slinked behind Loki, trying to hide her own injuries, her pale curls concealing most of the blackened flesh on the tender skin of her throat.

Sif glanced at her younger sister before turning catching her left arm and tugging her alongside them.

Loki sent her a sympathetic glance before Adelaide disappeared from the Observatory.

The young Asgardian hardly remembered anything before they entered the infirmary, but once they were in there, the healers split into two groups, one rushing to Fandral and the other rushing to her. They cleaned the wound on her arm as gently as they could before stitching the deep gash and wrapping it tightly in cloth. The hours in which she sat in the healing room went by painstakingly slow, and she couldn't help but wonder about Thor's punishment for his actions. Something was horribly wrong.

After those hours, Adelaide changed into her simple, beige handmaiden's outfit. She kept her platinum curls hanging loosely, bouncing around her frost-bitten neck with every step. She arrived at Odin's chambers, walking toward Frigga's. She paused when she heard the All-Mother speaking with the All-Father inside.

"How could you have done this?" Frigga demanded her husband.

"Do you understand what he has set in motion?" Odin asked, standing on a balcony and looking over Asgard. "He's taken us to the brink of war!"

"But banishment?" Frigga asked in disbelief. "You would lose him forever? He's your son!"

"What would you have done?"

"I would not have exiled them to a world of mortals, stripped of his powers, to suffer alone. I would never have the heart for such cruelty!" Frigga replied, sounding shocked at Odin's words.

"That is why I am king." Odin replied simply. He paused and let out a shaky sigh. "I, too, grieve for the loss of our son. But there are some things even I cannot undo."

"You can bring him back." Frigga stated.

"No," Odin corrected. "His fate is in his own hands now."

Adelaide slipped away from the door silently, ashamed at having eavesdropped, but she now knew her friend's foul fate. She moved to Frigga's room, finished her duties there, and slipped off to run into an armor plated chest. She whimpered quietly, stumbling back until familiar, slender fingers caught her elbows and steadied her.

"Adelaide," Loki said quickly and quietly. "I deeply apologize. I wasn't looking where I was going…" The young prince kept rambling, almost nervously, though Adelaide suspected it had something to do with Thor's banishment.

"Loki," Adelaide tried, but he just continued rambling. She sighed and shook her head at Loki, slipping her elbows from his gentle grip to take his hands in hers. He paused, his mouth still open as if he were going to say more. "Loki, I promise I'm fine. No harm was done."

Loki smiled sheepishly and slowly dropped her hands. "Well, alright then. I was on my way to meet with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. Would you care to join me?"

Adelaide smiled herself. "It would be my pleasure."

Loki held out his arm politely and she took it, and they walked together.

When they arrived, Sif was the first to notice the blackness around her younger sister's throat, and she looked at her with pale green eyes filled with sympathy.

Hogun pulled healing stones out of the fire, motioning Adelaide over to stand with Fandral and Volstagg, the walking wounded.

She glanced at Loki before she did as instructed.

Hogun crushed the healing stones to powder as they started to glow. Fandral winced at the stone's powder touching his gaping wound, while Hogun had the wounded female Asgardian sit and move her hair. She pulled her silvery blonde curls up and away from her neck, tying them there to reveal the necrotized handprints on the tender flesh of her neck. Sif's eyes widened and Loki flinched at the sight. Volstagg watched closely, seeing the pain it must've caused her by just what was on his forearms. Hogun carefully spread the hot powdered stones around her left wrist before moving to her neck gingerly.

She sat with her eyes closed, her breath hitching painfully in her throat when the heated rocks were spread around the blackened flesh of her neck.

Loki couldn't help but stare at his arm, unscathed besides his memory of the blue color that spread up his arm. His skin was its normal pale shade again.

There were a few more moments of silence until Volstagg blurted, "We should have never let him go."

"There was no stopping him." Sif replied quickly, sending a glance at Adelaide, who still hadn't opened her silvery blue eyes.

"At least he's only banished, and not dead. Which is what we'd all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we'd gone." Fandral retorted, looking between the two.

"How did the guard even know?" Volstagg wondered, clearly confused.

Loki stared at him for a moment. "I told him."

Adelaide opened her eyes to look at Loki in surprise as Fandral asked, "What?"

"I told him to go to Odin after we'd left." Loki explained before commenting, "though he should be flogged for taking so long. We never should have made it to Jotunheim."

Volstagg stared for a long moment. "You told the guard?"

Adelaide opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when Loki answered. "I saved our lives! And Thor's. I had no idea Father would banish him for what he did."

Sif stood, looking hopefully toward Loki. "Loki, you're the only one who can help Thor now. You must go to the All-Father and convince him to change his mind!"

"And if I do, then what?" Loki snapped. "I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is. He's arrogant. He's reckless. He's dangerous. You saw what he was today. Is that what Asgard needs from its King?" And with that, Loki turned and left the room, leaving the others staring at him with torn gazes. What he didn't tell was that he left, mostly, because he couldn't stand to see Adelaide in pain anymore.

"He may speak about the good of Asgard," Sif said with an angry tone, "but he has always been jealous of Thor."

"True," Volstagg said, "but we should be grateful. He did save our lives."

"Laufey said there were traitors in the house of Odin." Hogun said, which was extremely out of character. The warrior rarely said a word.

"Why is it every time you choose to speak, it must be something dark and ominous?" Fandral asked curiously.

"A master of magic could conceal three Frost Giants into Asgard," Hogun continued.

"Not alone," Adelaide protested suddenly. "Even someone as powerful as Loki couldn't conceal three Frost Giants without help."

"Sister," Sif said slowly. "Are you saying that, if Loki did this, you aided him?"

"Surely not!" Volstagg defended.

Adelaide was baffled. "Of course not! I'm merely stating that even someone as powerful as Loki could never slip something past Heimdall's watch."

"Loki has always been one for mischief but you're talking about something else entirely." Fandral agreed.

"Who else could elude Heimdall with tricks of light?" Sif asked before sparing a glance at her sister. She remembered the flash of white light emitted by Adelaide's hands when she was attacked by those Frost Giants. A trick Sif had never seen her accomplish. Sif looked away before Adelaide met her gaze. She knew the reason for the trick; she knew the reason Adelaide was so caring yet fierce in battle; kind yet quick to defend those she cared for; compassionate yet strong-willed. She wasn't of Asgard.

"The ceremony was interrupted just before Thor was named King." Volstagg pointed out cautiously.

"We should go to the All-Father." Sif said quickly.

"And say what?" Fandral asked. "Oh, by the way, we think your son just betrayed the throne. And do us a favor, bring back Thor. There's a good fellow!"

"It is our duty!" Sif protested. "If any of our suspicions are correct, then all of Asgard is in danger."

With that comment, Adelaide stood and walked from the room, the thoughts and possibilities of Loki being a traitor swimming in her mind and clouding her vision.

Each of the Warriors Three raised an eyebrow at her reaction, Adelaide's usual beautiful grace seemingly dissipated as she stumbled from the room.


	8. Chapter 8

"Adelaide!" Sif called after her sister before dashing from the room where the Warriors Three lounged. "Sister, please wait."

She caught up to her sister and caught her arms gently. "Adelaide, I'm sorry about this situation. I truly am, but you must understand our suspicions."

Adelaide couldn't speak, her words clumped into her throat and tangled in knots from sobs. She only nodded slowly.

"There is something I must tell you, Adelaide. Something I should've explained many years ago. The reason for your talents, the reason for the magic you are so gifted in." Sif said with a shaky sigh. "You… you are not of Asgard."

Adelaide paused, her silvery blue eyes growing wide. "Wh-What…?" She managed to get out without sobbing.

"Adelaide, when I was a baby, Father found you stranded on the edge of a battlefield on Vanaheim. A newborn baby with thick corn-silk curls and silvery blue eyes. He knew you were special from the moment he found you. When he lifted you to cradle you, he told me you never cried, you never did anything but look up at him curiously. And then he felt a deformity on your back; wings." Sif explained slowly, gently toward Adelaide, who inched closer to an emotional breakdown with every word. "You were born on the field of battle, sister. You can do many things you've never thought possible. You're a Valkyrie."

"That's… impossible." Adelaide breathed hoarsely. "I can't be a Valkyrie…"

Sif took her sister and turned her around, running a hand across a small bulge on each of her shoulder blades.

Adelaide flinched. It was true, if she wanted, a sprout of wings could grow from that spot. She truly wasn't of Asgard. But why hadn't they appeared before?

"Why didn't you tell me?" Adelaide whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Mother didn't want you to feel separate from everyone. She wanted you to know when you were old enough to know that you were still loved by friends and family when you were told." Sif explained gently.

"I… I need to find Frigga…" Adelaide said quietly, wiping her tears away before Sif nodded slowly and left her alone.

The young Asgardian—Valkyrie—dashed down the hall to see the massive doors to the Weapons Vault open. She slipped inside to see Loki edging toward the Casket of Ancient Winters. The Casket glowed blue on its stand as Adelaide slipped into the shadows to watch the prince.

Loki reached out to it, lifting the glowing blue object between his pale forearms. As he did, a blue shade spread across his arms and over his body.

Adelaide gasped silently, realizing it was his skin, not the light of the Casket.

The Destroyer activated as the latticework around the Casket began separating, fire burning inside the black armor of the metal guardian as it rattled to life.

Loki ignored it as the blueness consumed his entire body, his eyes turning crimson like a Frost Giant's.

"Stop!" Odin called, shutting down the Destroyer and causing Loki to turn. The latticework of the Casket rejoined a moment later. Odin looked at Loki, his gaze filled with dismay.

"Am I cursed?" Loki asked shakily.

"No," Odin said slowly. "Put the Casket down."

Loki obeyed, placing the Casket back on its pedestal slowly. He turned to look at Odin, his skin regaining its normal pale hue. "What am I?"

"You're my son," Odin replied simply.

"What more than that?" Loki asked again, noticing a flicker in the shadows as Adelaide moved through. He saw her, or more accurately, she saw him. The monster he just discovered he was.

Odin didn't answer, and his expression turned suddenly weary, burdened by the truth.

"The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?" Loki asked, his voice shaky but demanding an answer.

Odin looked up, meeting his son's emerald gaze. He couldn't deny the truth any longer. "No." Odin said before pausing and revealing the whole truth. "In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the Temple, and I found a baby. Small for a giant's offspring—abandoned, suffering, left to die. Laufey's son."

Loki's head was spinning as he tore his gaze away from Odin. "Laufey's son..."

Adelaide watched his struggle to make sense of the new revelation.

"Why?" Loki asked in disbelief a moment later. "You were knee-deep in Jotun blood. Why would you take me?"

"You were an innocent child." Odin said simply.

Adelaide frowned, easily able to tell that wasn't the whole truth. She could always tell.

"No," Loki said quickly. "You took me for a purpose, what was it?"

Odin said nothing.

"TELL ME!" Loki cried, his emotions torn to shreds by this horrible day of his life. Tears welled in his emerald eyes, while Adelaide's still spilled silently down her cheeks. She wanted nothing more than to wipe his away and make him smile again.

"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day," Odin explained, "bring about an alliance, bring about a permanent peace… through you. But those plans no longer matter."

Loki's tears welled further, brimming in his eyes to the point Adelaide was sure they would spill. "So I am no more than another stolen relic," he said in a pained voice, "locked up here until you might have use of me."

"Why do you twist my words?" The All-Father asked simply.

"You could have told me what I was from the beginning. Why didn't you?" Loki asked, still hurt, and Adelaide realized he asked the same question she had asked Sif.

"You are my son, my blood. I wanted only to protect you from the truth." Odin said, as gently as the weary king could manage.

"Because I am the monster parents tell their children about at night?" Loki asked, again his voice strained and choked with hurt.

"Don't…" Odin strained, seeming to get weaker by the moment.

"It all makes sense now. Why you favored Thor all these years." Loki growled, his voice filling with anger and still shaking with his emotional pain.

"Listen…" Odin tried again, but he was interrupted again by his raging son.

"Because no matter how much you claimed to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!" Loki continued in a snarl.

Adelaide's silvery blue eyes were wide as she watched Odin fight away the Odinsleep, though she didn't know what it was. His body trembled, his hand moved strangely, as if on its own as Loki moved to exit the room furiously.

"Listen to me!" Odin called to Loki, who continued to stride for the exit. "Loki!" Odin started to move toward him, but the effects were too much. It was as if Odin moved out of sync with the rest of the world. He staggered backward before falling against a wall, the All-Father's face contorted in a scream as he slumped to the stone floor.

Adelaide gasped in shock and fear before lifting her skirts and running toward him. "Loki!" She called, kneeling beside the fallen King and looking at the prince with worry in her silvery blue eyes.

Loki, shocked, hurried to his father's side. He took Odin in his arms gently before calling out, "Guards!"

Adelaide ran her hands across the King's forehead. His skin was cool, unhealthily so, and she looked up at Loki with worry. "What's happening to him?"

Loki trembled in silence as the guards ran in, dashing toward the two young Asgardians—or so they thought—looking over the unconscious King.

When the guards took Odin from the room to put him in the his chambers, Adelaide was shaking violently with fear and shock and all of the other welling emotions she had concealed as tears continued down her face.

Loki looked at her, confused. "Adelaide," he asked through the tears he had swallowed. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head, her body aching. Her right arm seared with pain where it had been gashed, her left wrist and throat still bluish and painful with the frostbite that had nestled there from the Jotunn's touch. But a new pain had emerged; her shoulders and back burned with pain, as if the wings that had been hidden from her for her entire life were about to spring into use. Her hands heated from her mixed emotions, a blast of blue magic expelling from them in an intense roar. She flew backward, as she wasn't able to control the unexpected blast. She hit the stone wall behind them hard.

She whimpered in pain before pushing herself up off the floor she had fallen to, a second blast cracking the stone floor and firing her upward in a spin.

"Adelaide!" Loki shouted, watching in shock. He mustered some magic to soften her landing when she tumbled toward the floor.

She landed on his magic and rolled onto the floor, trembling with silent sobs as she attempted to push herself up, but fell back to the floor after using exhausting effort and failing. She rarely cried from pain, but after that and her mixed emotions from the awful day, she couldn't stop herself.

Loki slid toward her on the floor, pulling her gently off the floor and wrapping his arms around her upper back to hold her comfortingly as she cried into his armor. He rubbed her back slowly, feeling the strange growth on her shoulder blades and becoming instantly curious, but he didn't ask. He was afraid of what would happen if he did.

After a few minutes, Adelaide shifted her weight stiffly, painfully, to look down at the floor and away from Loki. "I'm sorry..." She breathed, not meeting the terrified prince's gaze.

"For what?" He asked, raising a dark eyebrow. "You've done nothing wrong."

She took a deep, painful breath and glanced at him. "I was upset over nothing, and… you didn't have to comfort me—" Loki opened his mouth to protest before she finished "—but I'm glad you did."

Loki managed a slight smile. "I will always be there for you, Adelaide. Always." He reached toward her and cupped her face in his slender hand to lift it so she looked at him. "I..." The prince paused and looked down, his pale skin flushing with a rosy pink across his prominent cheekbones.

Adelaide frowned and lifted her head from his hand to tilt his chin up gently with a cool slender finger. "You what, Loki?"

His emerald green eyes met her glittering silvery blue ones and he spoke in a breath, Adelaide hardly able to hear. "I love you."

Adelaide let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in a breathless laugh and the widest smile she could manage at the moment, the pain at her breath and hammering heart making her ribcage throb. "You love me?" She asked in hopeful disbelief.

Loki nodded slowly, suddenly unsure about revealing his feelings.

Adelaide leaned forward and kissed his lips gently, but briefly. "I love you too."

Loki smiled when she pulled away and kissed her himself from where they sat on the newly cracked floor of the Weapons Vault.

The kiss was soft, sweet, and almost cautious on Loki's part.

Adelaide smiled into the kiss before pulling away and resting her forehead against his.

"Even after what you just saw," Loki whispered, his emerald eyes closed as he rested his forehead against hers with equal force to steady them both. "Even though you know the monster I truly am, you can still find it in your beautiful, kind heart to love me?"

"I understand you, Loki. I know you. You are far from a monster." She whispered in reply, leaning up, stiff with pain, and kissing his forehead. "Neither of us are what we seem."

He looked up, confused. He hated not knowing, especially since he had realized that his entire life had been a lie he never thought to think through. This was something he couldn't afford not to know. "What do you mean?"

Adelaide sighed and shook her head slowly. "Neither of us are of Asgard."

The pieces started to fall into place like a jigsaw puzzle. Loki always wondered why she was such a rare beauty, even in Asgard. The magic in Jotunheim; the white light she had never conjured before. Lastly, the strange deformities in her shoulder blades, as if something was desperately attempting to grow from them.

"Adelaide," he asked slowly, suspecting but wanting confirmation. "If you aren't an Asgardian, what are you?"

Adelaide flinched, brushing her pale blonde curls out of her silvery blue eyes. "A Valkyrie." She breathed in near silence.

Loki smiled. "A Valkyrie and a Frost Giant." He observed, gently tucking her hair behind her ear. "Truly the strangest love the Nine Realms has ever known." 


	9. Chapter 9

Adelaide and Loki had left the Weapons Vault and separated, Loki to his quarters and Adelaide to the All-Mother.

"My Queen," the young maiden said quickly as she entered the room.

Frigga didn't reply, only standing on her balcony in a shell-shocked silence and staring out over all of Asgard.

"Were you there?" The All-Mother asked faintly, distantly, not looking at the young handmaiden she usually regarded with such motherly care and closeness.

"I beg your pardon, All-Mother?" Adelaide asked, looking up at the Queen, who still wouldn't look at her.

"Were you there?" She repeated, her voice still distant as she elaborated. "When Odin told Loki the truth of his heritage? When my husband fell into the Odinsleep?"

"Yes, my Queen. I was." Adelaide said, her expression calm, though sympathetic. "Though I did not know what was happening."

Frigga turned to look at her then. "And Loki? What did you discover of him?"

Adelaide looked away, her silvery blue eyes averted to the floor, while her white blonde curls bounced around her face from the quick, jerking movement. "He… is not of Asgard." She looked back up at the All-Mother. "But, my Queen, neither am I."

"I know, child," Frigga said distantly. "Your mother told me when I asked you to become my handmaiden and guard, and when I started teaching you magic alongside my son."

Adelaide suddenly felt betrayed by one of the people she trusted most. "You knew?" She asked in shock. "How many knew and never told me?"

"Child, please don't do this," Frigga begged. "I am sure Sif explained everything, why you weren't told."

"I don't care!" Adelaide finally snapped, tears welling in her silvery blue eyes. "It would've been different if I had known and people still acted like they cared about me, but now that I know… I can't tell if they only cared because they thought I was one of them."

"You are one of us." Frigga said instantly. "You may not be one of the Aesir but that doesn't make you any less Asgardian."

"How will I tell any of them?" She asked faintly. "I could only bear to tell Loki because we had both received the same news, that neither of us were truly parts of our own families."

"You family still loves you, Adelaide," Frigga said softly, cupping the young Valkyrie's cheek. "Just as we still love Loki. What you are does not make you who you are, only your actions do that."

"And what now?" Adelaide asked, casting her eyes downward and tilting her face away from the All-Mother. "With Thor banished, and the All-Father…" She trailed off at Frigga's look of sorrow. "How does Asgard go on?"

Frigga took a steadying breath as she dropped her hand away from Adelaide's face after brushing back her pale blonde curls. "Loki will take the throne until his father awakens. He is the heir."

Adelaide nodded, stepping back from the queen.

"And, Adelaide," Frigga called softly, "Loki may choose a queen, and I believe we both know who he will choose if the opportunity arises."

Adelaide said nothing, had nothing to say, as she finally left the room.


End file.
